UNIVERSITY OF READING Publishing Swinburne; the poet, his publishers and critics. Vol. 1: Text Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of English Language and Literature Clive Simmonds May 2013 1 Abstract This thesis examines the publishing history of Algernon Charles Swinburne during his lifetime (1837-1909). The first chapter presents a detailed narrative from his first book in 1860 to the mid 1870s: it includes the scandal of Poems and Ballads in 1866; his subsequent relations with the somewhat dubious John Camden Hotten; and then his search to find another publisher who was to be Andrew Chatto, with whom Swinburne published for the rest of his life. It is followed by a chapter which looks at the tidal wave of criticism generated by Poems and Ballads but which continued long after, and shows how Swinburne responded. The third and central chapter turns to consider the periodical press, important throughout his career not just for reviewing but also as a very significant medium for publishing poetry. Chapter 4 on marketing looks closely at the business of producing and of selling Swinburne’s output. Finally Chapter 5 deals with some aspects of his career after the move to Putney, and shows that while Theodore Watts, his friend and in effect his agent, was making conscious efforts to reshape the poet, some of Swinburne’s interests were moving with the tide of public taste; how this was demonstrated in particular by his volume of Selections and how his poetic oeuvre was finally consolidated in the Collected Edition at the end of his life. The thesis shows that popular interest was mainly on his earlier poetry, and suggests his high contemporary reputation (which was not fully reflected in sales) was maintained by the periodical press. 2 Declaration I confirm that this is my own work and the use of all material from other sources has been properly and fully acknowledged. Signed Date Some material from my article ‘Swinburne’s first book: The Queen-Mother and Rosamond (1860)’ Publishing History, 66 (2009) pp.63-76, and from my Open University M.A. Thesis entitled The Publication and Reception of Swinburne’s Poems and Ballads (1866) is incorporated in Chapters 1, 2 and 4 of this thesis. Acknowledgements I wish to thank the Special Collections staff at the University of Reading for their patient and frequent retrieval of the Hotten and Chatto ledgers and letter books over the last few years, and my supervisor, Dr Andrew Nash for his guidance throughout this thesis. 3 Contents Vol. 1: Text Introduction 7 Chapter 1: Swinburne and his publishers, 1860 – 1874 (a) Pickering 10 (b) Moxon: Atalanta in Calydon and Chastelard 18 (c) Moxon: Poems and Ballads 34 (d) Hotten 45 (e) The search for a new publisher 66 Chapter 2: Criticism and response, 1866 – 1878 (a) Poems and Ballads 80 (b) Criticism and response 1867-1878 103 Chapter 3: The Periodical Press 126 (a) Reviewing Swinburne 127 (b) Swinburne’s poetry and articles in the periodical press 145 4 Chapter 4: Selling Swinburne 167 (a) Publishing the books: payments, costs and editions 168 (b) Copyright and the American market 185 (c) Swinburne the pamphleteer 199 (d) A note on Swinburne’s readership 215 Chapter 5: Reshaping the poet, 1878 – 1909 220 (a) The guidance of Watts 221 (b) Selections (1887) 234 (c) Patriotic themes 244 (d) Swinburne’s Collected Edition, 1904-1905 256 Conclusion 274 Note on Sources and Bibliography 278 5 Vol. 2: Annexes 1-22 Annex 1 Swinburne’s Print Runs and Publication prices 4 Annex 2 Swinburne’s Publications in the Periodical Press 14 Annex 3 Reviews of Swinburne’s books listed by journal 40 Annex 4 Statements of account from Hotten to Swinburne 82 Annex 5 Hotten’s print runs and binding records 84 Annex 6 Comparison of Hotten’s recorded print runs with accounts 88 Annex 7 Text of Chatto Agreement 1874 90 Annex 8 The Poems and Ballads press furore, July 1866- January 1867 92 Annex 9 Review lists for Poems and Ballads (1889) and Studies in 103 Prose and Poetry (1894) Annex 10 Some statistics of poetry published in Victorian periodicals 104 Annex 11 Poetry published in The Nineteenth Century 1877-1902 108 Annex 12 Publishers’ Circular’s annual poetry publishing statistics 112 Annex 13 Swinburne’s earnings from Chatto royalties, 1874-1916 113 6 Annex 14 Mudie’s Select Library 117 14a: Swinburne’s titles stocked by Mudie’s Select Library, 117 1865-1884 14b: Subject breakdown of Mudie’s stock, 1869 119 14c: Poetry, reviews and journals listed in Catalogue of 120 the Principal Books in Circulation at Mudie’s Select Library, January 1872 Annex 15 List of Pamphlets 124 Annex 16 Contemporary criticism of pamphlets 128 Annex 17 Contents of Selections (1887) and two later anthologies 133 Annex 18 Print runs of Selections 145 Annex 19 Contemporary reviews of Selections (1887) 146 and of Selections from A.C. Swinburne (1919) Annex 20 The arrangement of the Collected Edition 149 Annex 21 Print runs of the Collected Edition 154 Annex 22 Reviews of the Collected Edition 157 * * * * * 7 Introduction Surprisingly little has been written about the publication of individual Victorian poets or indeed about that of Victorian poetry generally. This thesis addresses that conspicuous gap by examining the publishing history of Algernon Charles Swinburne during his lifetime (1837-1909), a highly controversial figure at the opening of his career but a Grand Old Man of English letters by its end. The first chapter presents a detailed narrative from his first book in 1860 to the mid 1870s: it includes the scandal of Poems and Ballads in 1866; his subsequent relations with the somewhat dubious John Camden Hotten; and then his search to find another publisher who was to be Andrew Chatto, with whom Swinburne published for the rest of his life. It is followed by a chapter which looks at the tidal wave of criticism generated by Poems and Ballads but which continued long after, and shows how Swinburne responded. The third and central chapter turns to consider the periodical press, important not just for reviewing but also as a very significant medium for publishing poetry. Chapter 4 on marketing looks closely at the business of producing and of selling Swinburne’s output. Finally Chapter 5 deals with some aspects of his career after the move to Putney, and shows that while Theodore Watts, his friend and in effect his agent, was making conscious efforts to reshape the poet, some of Swinburne’s interests were moving with the tide of public taste; how this was demonstrated in particular by his volume of Selections and how his poetic oeuvre was finally consolidated in the Collected Edition at the end of his life. The existing literature on all this is very thin indeed. T.J. Wise published his Bibliography of Algernon Charles Swinburne in two privately printed volumes between 1919 and 1920, and this remains the fullest listing of Swinburne’s output. Although it contains an apparent wealth of information, that wealth is, in part, counterfeit coin. For in addition to being a tireless bibliographer Wise was no less industrious as a forger and shameless authenticator of his own spurious first editions. His Bibliography lists seventy-two editiones principes; of these only fifty are in fact genuine. Swinburne’s few biographers have usually had something to say in passing about his publishing. They nearly all rely on the first, Edmund Gosse, who wrote less than a decade after the 8 poet’s death:1 his biography benefited from close friendship with his subject during the 1870s – which gives it its particular value – and from his graceful style and easy authority; it was handicapped by the proprieties of the day, by Sir Edmund’s uncertain grasp of detail and by misplaced confidence in his friend Wise.2 There has been no discussion of Swinburne’s output in the periodical press, only on his reception as reflected in it, and that was written eighty years ago.3 Nor have the main themes of my subsequent chapters previously attracted investigation. I have used three principal sources for my research. First, contemporary letters, diaries and memoirs, above all the two invaluable collections of Swinburne’s letters edited by Lang and by Meyers, the latter only published within the last decade. Second, the archives of Hotten and of Chatto & Windus held at Reading University Library. Although these have been consulted before (both Lang and Meyers include some of the letters) it is clear no-one has ever worked through them systematically or consulted the relevant printing and account ledgers. And my third source is the Victorian press. Thanks to digitisation this vast contemporary source that previously could only be searched with the greatest labour, is gradually opening up. Various annexes present statistical and other information referred to in the body of the thesis. In particular: Annex 1 is a comprehensive list all Swinburne’s volumes with details of price, editions and size of print runs; Annex 2 lists all of Swinburne’s contributions to the periodical press, correcting and enlarging on Wise’s list in the second volume of his Bibliography and including payment details where known; and Annex 3 cites contemporary reviews of Swinburne’s volumes, augmenting very considerably the most recent listing which comprises a part of the bibliography published by Beetz thirty years ago, and indentifying many anonymous reviewers.4 1 Edmund Gosse, The Life of Algernon Charles Swinburne (London: Macmillan and Co, 1917). 2 Philip Henderson, Swinburne; portrait of a poet (London: Macmillan, 1976), p.117 tells how Moxon had issued Laus Veneris as a pamphlet in advance of the publication of Poems and Ballads in order to test contemporary opinion, a story which appeared in Gosse’s biography (Life, p.141).